Kare's Curse
by KatonRyu
Summary: [PPGZ]The RowdyRuff Boys hear Kare's plan to curse the Powerpuff Girls and want to warn them for it.lame summary I knowPPGZxRRBZ
1. The Curse

**Kare's Curse**

Disclaimer: I do not own Powerpuff Girls Z or the characters.(A/N lame title huh? I couldn't think of anything better... For those of you who don't know, Momoko is Blossom, Miyako is Bubbles and Kaoru is Buttercup. How I call them depends on whether they're transformed or not. Oh yeah, and Kare is Him.)

**Chapter 1:The curse**

"Stay down! Megaton Dunk!"

With a furious swing of her hammer, Buttercup slammed Robo Mojo into the ground.

"When will you learn Mojo? You can't beat us. So stop trying!" she yelled at the monkey inside of the robot.

"Hahahahaha, you say that now, but I will return and defeat you for good mojo!" Mojo responded.

"Just leave him be. He'll be back again and again and again, and we'll defeat him again and again and again," Blossom said.

After hearing the call for help, the Powerpuff Girls Z had moved out to find Mojo Jojo rampaging around in Tokyo City in another of his huge mechas. The fight had been short and violent. With Mojo running off, leaving behind the wreckage of his destroyed mecha, the girls flew back to school.

"If we skip more classes we'll definitely end up getting expelled someday," Miyako sighed.

"Yeah, but at least it wouldn't be for nothing. I mean, if we hadn't done anything Mojo would have destroyed the city," Momoko said.

"He should try something else," Kaoru said in a bored tone. "I mean, he's always showing up with huge-ass mechas, and we always end up either pounding them into the dirt or send them flying off."

"That's not true; what about the RowdyRuff Boys?" Miyako asked.

"We haven't seen them since they ran off last time; who knows where they are. Anyway, I doubt we'll have to deal with them anytime soon. Too bad..." Kaoru muttered.

Without wasting any more time, the girls went back to their class to experience the delightful boredom of mathematics.

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In an old museum the scorpion-clawed devil Kare sat on his coffin, in which he'd been sealed for more than a century. He was brooding in silence on a scheme to destroy the Powerpuff Girls Z, and unlike Mojo his plans didn't involve any giant mechas. It did, however, involve a lot of chaos and mayhem, ending in the ultimate defeat and humiliation of his greatest enemies. A cruel smile appeared on Kare's face and he leapt out of the basement.

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"Did you understand anything of that math problem?" Kaoru asked in desperation to her friends, who were similarly puzzled by their homework.

"No, becuase the background info was given while we were out fighting Mojo," Momoko answered.

"That stupid monkey! Next time I'll Graviton Drive him to oblivion!" Kaoru said angrily.

The girls had already spent hours on their homework because they had gotten extra assignments in nearly all classes for skipping them. And if they didn't do it, their parents would be contacted, and if that wouldn't improve the situation, they would be expelled. So they had no choice but to sit down and do everything. Fortunately, Ken and Professor Utonium had been willing to help them, and they'd promised to help the girls as soon as they finished an important experiment. But so far, both Ken and the Professor hadn't shown up, leaving the girls to do their work alone.

"Ugh, fuck this shit," Kaoru exclaimed and lay and on her back, staring at the ceiling.

"Come on, Kaoru. You know what happens if we don't do this," Miyako said reasonably.

"Yeah, I know." With a sigh, Kaoru sat back up and grabbed her pen. "But then, who cares if we get expelled? I mean, we're super heroes right? We wouldn't exactly need to scrape some money together."

"Don't bet on it," Professor Utonium, who was standing in the door opening with Ken and Peach just behind him, said.

"Professor!" the three girls said simultaneously. "Can you help us with these math problems?" Momoko asked.

"Of course, I promised I would didn't I? But really Kaoru, don't take your study lightly. Even if you're a super hero you need money, and fighting monsters doesn't really pay, does it?"

"I guess you're right...But that doesn't change the fact that we're stuck with this bullshit while we could be outside doing stuff," Kaoru replied.

The Professor shook his head and said, "You'll have time to play later; now, let's take a look at these math problems shall we?"

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The three boys lay hidden in the bushes, and looked through the window at the three girls they knew as the Powerpuff Girls Z. "Let's follow them and TP their houses," Boomer suggested.

"Why not just prank call them to madness?" Butch said.

Brick, their more-or-less leader, shook his head. "We won't let them know we're back in town yet. Haven't you noticed they've been doing that homework shit for hours? And remember, we heard them saying they'd get expelled if they keep skipping class."

"Yeah, so?" Boomer asked.

Brick sighed. "We'll start causing trouble in the city tomorrow, during class. As soon as those girls get to us we vanish, only to start screwing around again when they're back in school. If we keep that up for maybe a week, they'll get expelled for sure."

Boomer and Butch grinned. "You're evil, bro. So, do we follow them home when they're done with their homework?" Butch asked.

Brick considered for a moment, and than he said, "Nah, let's just try and find a place to hide in for the next week. If we're going to get the girls expelled we'll need a base of some sort, and I don't think Mojo will let us stay at his place seeing how we fuck around with him every time we happen to see him. The girls are done with their work! Quickly, let's get the fuck out of here!"

The boys crawled back into the bushes, and when the laboratory was out of sight, they flew off.

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"Did you guys see that?" Momoko asked.

"Huh? See what?" Kaoru replied confused.

"Yeah, there's nothing to see there Momoko," Miyako said.

Momoko shook her head. "I thought I saw the RowdyRuffs. Must've been my imagination."

Kaoru smirked, "Heh, we won't see them again anytime soon. They may have embarrassed us last time, but we scared them off just the same."

Despite Kaoru's cocky words, Momoko was sure she'd seen three boys crawling back into the bushes, one of them wearing a red baseball cap backwards, with red hair sticking out from under it. She decided not to make too much of it. It could've been other boys, or just her imagination. She snapped out of her thoughts and followed Kaoru and Miyako, who had already gone ahead.

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"What kind of a dump is this?" Boomer wondered.

It was night, and the RowdyRuffs had gone into the forest on Brick's direction, to a hide-out.

"It's an old, shut down museum. Perfect as a base," Brick replied.

"Since when are you all cultural?" Butch asked him mockingly.

"Shut up, do you know a better place to stay?" Brick demanded.

"Hell no, I was just asking," Butch replied.

"Well don't. I don't give a fuck about culture or history or anything else that's even slightly eduational. So I'm suggesting first we trash this dump, shape it more to our liking. Then we can...What's that?"

The boys were quiet and listened. From the roof, cruel laughter could be heard. The tone was so cruel and chilling that even the RowdyRuffs shivered.

"Let's check it out," Brick whispered.

The other two nodded and flew after Brick, to the roof of the museum. Standing on the roof, facing the city, was a harlequin-like man with two scorpion claws. The dark aura that emitted from him was overwhelming. He spoke in a high, chilling voice.

"Soon, little girls, you will have nothing more but your eternal nightmares...When we meet I'll place the curse on you, and watch from the shadows as your minds are ripped open, leaving nothing but empty shells."

The RowdyRuffs were stunned. This creature was pure evil. Even though the RowdyRuffs were created to destroy Powerpuff Z, they had no intention of doing so. Only screw around a little, get them in trouble. But this...this thing would destroy them. And even though Brick didn't want to admit it, he sort of felt for Momoko. He didn't want to actually hurt her, or see her get hurt.

"We have to warn them," he whispered to his brothers.

They looked at him increduously, and then Boomer asked, "Why?"

"Because I..." Brick couldn't finish his reply, because he noticed the demon on the roof had stiffened. "Move," he hissed. The RowdyRuffs quickly flew down and into the forest.

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Kare turned around and saw nothing. "Are my evil powers tricking me? How can I, master of paranoia, be prone to such nonsense? Maybe it's just the thrill of finally being able to break those little bitches...Yeah, that must be it." Grinning wickedly, Kare jumped off the rooftop.

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"So, why exactly do we have to warn the Powerpuff Girls? They're our enemy!" Butch exclaimed furiously, although in reality he nearly cheered for his brother when he'd said they had to warn the girls. He'd never tell his brothers of course, but Kaoru actually meant something to him, and the other girls weren't bad either.

The RowdyRuffs were on the edge of the forest and the city, and were debating their next step.

"Because if they're ash or zombies or whatever we can't get them expelled from school," Brick replied. He knew his answer was the lamest he'd ever come up with, but to his amazement his brothers nodded.

"Okay, so how do we warn them?" Boomer asked. He was relieved they'd try to warn the girls. Miyako was so cute...But of course, no-one would ever know he thought so.

"We'll have no choice but to follow our plan, but instead of running, we attempt to talk to them," Brick said.

Butch shook his head. "That might already be too late. I say we sneak to their homes and warn them immediately."

"That could be risky, but it's probably necessary," Boomer said.

Brick nodded and said, "Okay, we'll warn them right now. I'll go to Blossom's place."

"I'll take Miya-um, Bubbles," Boomer said.

"I'll warn Buttercup, then," Butch said. The boys nodded and sped away in separate directions.

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Momoko was sleeping soundly, and dreaming of being honored for her work as a super heroine together with Miyako and Kaoru, when she was woken up by the sound of someone tapping on her window. Sleepily, she got up and opened her curtains, and realized with a shock that Brick floated in front of her window. She realized vaguely that her biggest discomfort was that she worried more about being seen in her nightgown than about the fact that one of her enemies was knocking on her window. She opened the window, half curious and half anxious, and Brick flew in and landed in her room.

"Um, what...what are you doing here?" Momoko asked uncertainly. Her belt was on her desk, so she couldn't transform. She realized she had been stupid by opening the window.

"I'm here to warn you." Brick's voice sounded serious, not at all mischievous like last time. It seemed as if he were a different person. "We were at the old museum, the reason for that doesn't matter. When we were talking, we heard laughter so we went up the roof to check it out."

Momoko felt a chill run down her spine. She feared what would come next.

"There was some harlequin-like guy there. He was really creepy, but that's not the point. He wants to place some sort of curse on you when you meet him. He says he'll rip your minds open."

Momoko shuddered and muttered, "Kare..."

Brick looked up confused. "Yeah, him. I told you didn't I?"

Momoko shook her head and said, "That's what he's called. His real name is so frightening that no-one dares say it. That's why everyone just says Kare. But why would you warn me for this? Don't you want me destroyed?"

Brick looked uncomfortable for a moment and then said, "Well, um, I gotta go now. Watch out, okay?" He jumped through the window and flew away into the night. Momoko looked after him with a weird feeling in her stomach, and more than just the dread from Brick's prediction. He actually looked kinda good to her.

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"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Kaoru hissed at Butch. She had put on her belt, but didn't transform yet. Butch had just come in through her open window and woken her up.

"You have to be careful. A man with scorpion claws wants to curse you. Be on your guard."

Kaoru was shocked. Scorpion claws...that could only mean Kare. "How do you know this?" she demanded.

"We were at the old museum. We heard something so we checked only to find that guy on the roof talking to himself. He feels really dangerous," Butch said.

Kaoru nodded. "Kare is certainly dangerous. Um...thanks for warning me, I guess...But don't think I'll go soft on you if come barging in here again!" she added.

Butch smiled, raised his hand in a greeting, and flew away.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Kaoru muttered when she realized she was still thinking about Butch even ten minutes after he left. She shook her head and went back to sleep.

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"You know, you could've just rang my doorbell," Miyako said, still half-sleeping. Boomer was standing in her room.

"In the middle of the night?"

Miyako shook her head to clear her mind and said, "Well, I guess you're right. So why are you here?"

"There's some kind of...demon or something that wants to curse you. We heard him at the museum," Boomer said, doing his best not to gaze at Miyako too obsessively.

Miyako was startled by this. "You heard Kare say he was going to curse us? When will he strike?"

Boomer looked at the ground for a moment and said, "I'm not sure. He said when you meet him again. I guess that'll be soon. That's why I'm here right now. We planned to get you expelled from school, but we don't want you killed. Yet, anyway," he hurried to add. He wondered why he had revealed their plans to her, but he didn't really care. He wouldn't allow Miyako to get hurt.

Miyako looked troubled, but then she snapped out of it and said, "Thanks for warning me, Boomer..."

Boomer blushed a little and flew off at top speed to prevent Miyako from noticing. Miyako smiled after him. Boomer was actually really nice.

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The next morning, the girls woke up extremely early and decided to go to school early. Because all of them had had the same idea, they arrived at the gate at the same time.

"Did you get warned too?" Momoko asked, already knowing the answer because Miyako and Kaoru were also early.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, Kare seems to want to curse us."

Momoko and Miyako nodded grimly. "We'll have to be really careful; Kare is no joke. That guy is evil incarnate," Momoko said.

"I'll just smash him!" Kaoru said boldly, but they all knew that such a thing was impossible. Kare was an ancient demon with terrifying powers. And he wasn't just a mindless destroyer; he enjoyed sophisticated chaos, destroying his victims both mentally and physically. The fact that no-one dared to say his name was prove of his power.

"Why does it have to be Kare, of all people?" Momoko sighed.

"He's without a doubt our strongest enemy. But if you turn it around, we're also his strongest enemy. Isn't it logical he wants us destroyed?" Miyako said rhethorically.

"Anyway, does any of you know why exactly the RowdyRuff Boys warned us?" Momoko asked while the girls walked up the stairs to their classroom. "I mean, they're enemies; they want us gone just as bad as Kare."

"Actually, they don't," Miyako said.

Momoko and Kaoru stared at her in confusion. Both of them seemed to think Miyako had gone crazy.

Miyako smiled when she saw the confused faces of her friends. "Boomer told me. They wanted to get us expelled from school, not kill us. I guess they wanted the museum as their makeshift base."

"And unknowingly chose the Devil's Lair," Kaoru grinned.

The other girls smiled too, but then Momoko said, "Well, they did warn us. So we should thank them if we see them later."

"If we survive Kare's curse. I mean, it's good to know, but if that curse flash-fries us we're still going to die," Kaoru said bluntly.

"Kare is not one to instantly turn us into crisps. He plays mind games remember? Cause mental pain and fear first before ripping everything apart," Momoko said.

Before the girls could continue their conversation, their teacher walked into the classroom. And, feeling anxious, the girls had no choice but to sit through it.

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"So, do you think our warnings will save them?" Boomer asked. "Um, I mean, save them from this demon, of course," he quickly added.

Brick looked up at the sky. "I hope so. Of course I wouldn't mourn for them if something happened, but I really hope we were of any help."

Normally Butch would have made a snide remark about his brother wanting to be of help to someone, especially an enmy, but he didn't say anything. Mainly because he too wanted to help. So instead of something cynical, he said, "Can't we try to fight that demon ourselves? If we want them to live, we should just take out the danger."

Brick shook his head, but secretly sympathized with his brother. He'd do anything to beat the shit out of anyone who would really hurt Momoko, even though he was her enemy. "This demon, Kare, is so strong that even his name is feared. Well, that's what Blossom says anyway," Brick said.

"Do you believe her?" Boomer asked.

Brick turned towards him angrily. "Of course I believe her, why wouldn't I? She clearly knew who I meant when I described him, so she must've known what she was talking about."

"Well, she's still an enemy," Boomer said uncomfortably. He didn't want to piss Brick off, seeing how he was the strongest of them, and besides, he liked Miyako enough, he was sure Momoko wasn't that bad either.

Brick was in a fierce mental struggle at that point though, so he didn't hear what Boomer said. He was debating whether or not he should tell his brothers that he actually really liked Momoko a lot. Seeing their reactions in his mind, he decided to say nothing for the time being. Such things would have to wait for now, and probably for ever.

"Well, what will we do?" Butch asked.

Brick sighed and said, "We'll follow them from the shadows. If they run into that queer demon dude Kare we'll help them. We'll be playing bodyguard for now guys, so let's move." The boys nodded and flew off towards the school.

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"And so, in 1874..." The teacher just droned on and on about some stupid war in some stupid country, and frankly Momoko was bored out of her mind. But underneath the boredom she felt a little fear. Kare would appear again. She'd never told Kaoru and Miyako, but Kare had given her nightmares before. The nightmares always involved flames, screaming, and bleeding. Momoko shivered and struggled to focus on the teacher.

Again her thoughts wandered off, this time to a certain boy with a red baseball cap. She quickly shook her head, destroying the image.

"Yes, Momoko? Is there something you wish to say?" the teacher inquired.

"I, um..." Fortunately, right at that moment the compact on her belt flashed. "My hair suddenly gives me the power to defy gravity," she said.

"My voice gives me super strength!" Kaoru said.

"I'm more popular than Jesus!" Miyako yelled.

"We'll go to the infirmary, bye!" Momoko yelled as the girls ran out of class.

"Do you think it's Kare?" Miyako asked as they ran up the stairs to the roof.

"I hope not, but who knows," Momoko replied. They reached the roof and transformed.

"Hyper Blossom!"

"Rolling Bubbles!"

"Powered Buttercup!"

"Powerpuff Girls Z!"

The girls flew off and contacted the lab. "Girls, it's Kare! He's rampaging in the middle of the city, go there and stop him!"

"We're on our way!" Blossom said. Inwardly she sighed. Already she felt the fear. "Well, I guess now we'll find out what he's up to. See how strong this curse is," she said.

Bubbles and Buttercup said nothing, but their faces looked grim. They got to the center of Tokyo City, and found a flaming chaos, with Kare at the center.

"Fighting Love Science Legend, Powerpuff Girls Z!" the girls yelled when they arrived.

Kare looked up and grinned. "How nice of you to join my little party. Isn't it too cold for you? I can turn up the heat a little more if you'd want!"

With that, Kare shot two jets of flame from his claws at the girls.

"It won't be that easy Kare! Applepie Shoot!" Blossom yelled.

"Bubble Champagne!"

"Swing Sonic!" The three attacks reached Kare, but he raised a wall of flames to block them. He grinned again, this time even more sinister than before. He spread his claws and a storm of dark particles surrounded him.

"Goodbye girls, sweet dreams!" he said, and launched the black storm at the girls; the first hit separated them from eachother, the second one struck them head on. Just before she got hit, Blossom thought she saw a red baseball cap flash in front of her. Then the dark particles hit and the world went dark.

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Well, that's chapter 1, hope you liked it. Apology to LittleKuriboh for using his quotes:P


	2. Brick and Blossom

**Author's Note: This chapter didn't exactly turn out the way I planned it, but still I think it'll work well enough. I'm worried I kind of overdid it with the gore levels, though, so expect less of that in later chapters. Gore doesn't suit the story well, don't you agree? Although considering the circumstances it might have been appropriate here. Your opinions are always welcome :P On a sidenote, I'd like to thank narutolover1012 for pushing me in writing this chapter. It was on my hard drive for a while but I just didn't upload it. Anyway, I've said enough. Enjoy the chapter and R&R please, thanks :D  
**

_Brick and Blossom_

Blossom awoke with a headache. She was lying in a clearing in what seemed like a tropical rainforest. When she looked around she discovered someone lying nearby. With a shock, she realized it was Brick. He started to stir and got to his knees.

"What...what happened?" he asked, confused.

"The black particles hit me, but I don't know how you got here," Blossom replied.

Brick's head snapped up when he heard Blossom's voice and he looked at her to see if she was injured. "I jumped in front of that demon's attack to save your life. Are you okay?" he asked.

Blossom nodded. "Aside from a little headache I'm fine. How about you?"

Brick checked himself. "I guess I'm alright, too."

Blossom helped Brick get to his feet and looked around.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Brick asked.

Blossom shook her head. "Not really. I guess this is some world Kare created. But I thought he was going to curse us, not just transport us."

Before she could say anything else, Kare's voice sounded from the sky. "So little girls, you are finally at my mercy. And you boys, it was brave to try and help the girls; I had not anticipated that. But it doesn't matter. The six of you are doomed. This trial will end your existence. If you can make it to the top of the mountain at the center of this land your minds will stay intact. If you lose yourself in this beautiful world, for example by dying, or just going insane, you fail the test, and my curse will slowly but surely destroy you. If you make it though, you'll just return to the normal world. Try not to get your hopes up, though..."

With a final evil laugh, Kare vanished. Or at least his voice did; he was probably watching them.

"So Boomer and Butch are here too huh?" Blossom said.

"I guess so. It's good to know that they're alright. So, what will we do?" Brick asked.

Blossom thought for a moment. Obviously Kare's 'trial' would be more than just some sightseeing tour, but nonetheless they had to reach the summit of the mountain. "We'll have to follow Kare's directions for now," she said. "It's probably the only way of getting back to the others."

Brick stayed quiet. He watched Blossom as she flew up a little, only to fall back down. She landed in such a position that he could actually look under her skirt. He blushed heavily and quickly looked away. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"We can't fly here. Kare must want us to walk. Well, at least I saw the mountain, so I know the way," Blossom said.

For a few minutes, the two walked through the forest in silence. Nothing was hindering their progress. "So um, don't you find it weird to be here with your enemy?" Blossom asked, to break the silence. (Yes of course, in a jungle it's never quiet but you get the idea)

"Right now I don't really think of you as an enemy," Brick admitted. "We're in this together, so there's no point in fighting. And you girls never really had a problem with us as long as we kept quiet, so I figured you wouldn't try to kill me," he continued.

Blossom looked at the ground. She really liked Brick, but didn't allow herself to show it. He hated her, she was his enemy. He was only nice as long as they were here; when they got out he'd probably turn back into his arrogant self. But she would try to make the best of this time together, even though they were in hell, or some other demonic dimension. So far though, they'd only seen the jungle around them.

"This is quite a boring place. With a demon like that Kare guy, I'd expected a lot more monsters and flames," Brick said. No sooner had he said that, or they reached the edge of the rainforest and gazed upon a desolate wasteland. Not too far off, you could see the remnants of a city. The buildings were all destroyed; some twisted beams and concrete walls were all that made up the skyline, and every other part of the city.

"Oh my god, is that....Tokyo City?!" Blossom said disbelievingly.

Brick just stared. He wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

"Brick, we have to check it out! What if our friends..."

Brick nodded, but felt that something was wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it though. He followed Blossom as she started running towards the city. Blossom was extremely worried. What if the others were somehow in that devastated city? And not just them, but all her friends, and her family. She ran harder, anxious to reach the city. They reached the outskirts of the ruins, and found that it was indeed Tokyo City, by the shattered but still somewhat readable sign at the outskirts of the town. They ran into the streets, searching for any sign of human life. As they got further into the city, they noticed that fires still blazed in some of the destroyed buildings. Suddenly Blossom had a vision in her head of a certain building, and her heart pounded faster as she raced through the streets to her destination.

"Blossom, wait! Where are you going?!" Brick yelled.

"To the school!" She yelled back and continued running. The school was ablaze when Blossom and Brick arrived.

"Oh no...please...don't let this be..." Blossom stammered, and ran into the burning building.

"Hey wait! It's too dangerous!" Brick yelled after her.

Blossom didn't listen; she entered the building and started to search it.

"Guess I'll go with her..." Brick muttered and followed Blossom inside.

"Kaoru! Miyako!" Blossom yelled. Again, she looked around frantically and ran to the lunchroom. (Or cantina, or whatever) Inside, bleeding and broken, lay Kaoru and Miyako.

"No..." Blossom whispered.

Brick felt his stomach heave upon seeing the scene. Kaoru's left arm was gone beneath the elbow, and blood oozed from the wound. Her left eye was also gone. Only her leg was still in place, but it was bent at a really weird angle. Her entire body was covered in deep cuts. Miyako too looked horrible. She was clutching her stomach, desperately holding her guts inside. A deep gash ran over the side of her face. She too had deep cuts all over her body.

"W-what happened?" Blossom stuttered.

Kaoru looked at Blossom with her one good eye and said, "Kare...we were no match for him...why weren't you with us?!"

Blossom took a step back. "I...I..." she stammered.

"Please Blossom, tell us. Why weren't you here?" Miyako asked, her face contorted in pain.

Tears welled up in Blossom's eyes and she fell to her knees. "I...I...didn't...I..." Tears ran down her face. "I'm so sorry..." she whispered.

"Don't give me that bullshit," Kaoru said. "You just chickened out. Some leader you are."

Blossom shook her head violently. "No! That's not true!"

"Please Blossom...don't lie to us..." Miyako said.

"I'm not lying! Please...believe me!" Blossom collapsed and cried.

"Don't act like you care," Kaoru said harshly. Blossom cringed and looked up, still crying.

"Please...don't...I..."

"You left us, Blossom," Miyako said, her voice unbearably sad.

Blossom broke down again and lay on the ground sobbing.

"That's enough," Brick said. "She didn't chicken out. She didn't know about all this. Kare probably kept her away from the city."

Blossom looked up, amazed by what she heard. Was Brick actually defending her?

"Bullshit...we saw her run away," Kaoru said, her eye now blazing with anger.

"No...I..."

"Blossom, don't. I'll take care of this," Brick said. "Listen, I don't know who you saw running off, but Blossom's been with me the whole time. Kare threw us into a jungle. It couldn't have been her."

Kaoru struggled to rise, but collapsed again. "Don't fuck around with me, Brick. I may be injured, but I can still kick your ass and deal with Blossom afterward."

Brick didn't so much as blink. He stared hard at Kaoru, his face an emotionless mask. "In your current state you'd die if a pigeon took a crap on your head," he said bluntly. "I know we're enemies, but Blossom didn't know about this and that's the truth."

Kaoru turned away and Miyako shook her head. "You don't get it, Brick. When Kare came here, Blossom ran away. If only I knew why..."

Hearing all this, Blossom got to her feet and stood on wobbly legs, tears still streaming down her face. "Miyako...Kaoru...You have to believe Brick. He's telling the truth. Kare..."

"Save it! I won't listen to a traitorous whore who's been hammering on the fact that she was the leader, but chickened out when we needed her most. I hate you Blossom, and if I find a way to get even with you, I will," Kaoru spat.

"Kaoru...Miyako...Miyako believes me, right?" Blossom pleaded desperately.

Brick looked at her. He was worried that Blossom might lose it and go insane, which would make sure she failed the trial and got cursed.

Miyako only shook her head. "You have let both of us down, Blossom. I don't think we can be friends anymore, if we survive this."

Blossom trembled, and took a few steps back before turning and running, to the roof.

"Blossom!" Brick yelled. He turned to face Kaoru and Miyako. "Listen you two. If Blossom does something stupid and gets herself killed and thus cursed, I'll make sure to..." Brick stopped speaking as he realized the truth.

This was an illusion created by Kare, to determine if they'd be cursed. This was part of the trial. If Blossom knew...

"Where is Kare?!" Brick demanded.

"Up on the roof, where the traitor went. He's torching the city from there," Kaoru said.

With a last look at the two heavily injured girls, who were actually illusions, Brick ran to the roof, where he found Blossom face to face with Kare.

"Kare! I'll kill you!" Blossom yelled, her sadness replaced by rage. Kare merely grinned his devilish grin.

"Montblanc Shoot!"

Kare caught the yo-yo in his claw and pulled Blossom to him. He raised his other hand to kill her.

"Stop it!" Brick yelled. "This is not real. Blossom, this is a trial remember? This is all an illusion, created by Kare."

Blossom's eyes dulled, and then brightened again. She looked like she suddenly snapped awake. "You're right! That's why I knew where I had to go, this is one of my nightmares, I remember now!"

With that, Kare released his grip on her. "You little bitch..." he said, and then he vanished. The destroyed city disappeared with him, and Blossom and Brick now stood on top of a rock formation, looking over a desert. The mountain loomed in the distance.

Blossom turned to Brick. "Thanks. If you hadn't been there, Kare would have killed me and I'd be cursed." She felt slightly ashamed of herself for falling for Kare's illusion, but it couldn't be helped.

Brick blushed a little and said, "Well, it was nothing really. I just suddenly remembered, that's all. You were overcome by your emotions and fear. That's why you didn't realize it was fake."

Blossom smiled a little. She hadn't expected Brick to be so modest. "Well, anyway, you saved my life." She turned to face the mountain. If they could reach it...

"Well, let's go," Brick said, and jumped of the rock formation. Blossom nodded and jumped after him.

For a while, they walked through the searing hot desert. Even though it had been dusk when they were in Blossom's nightmare, it was now the middle of the day. It wasn't even truly a desert, because there wasn't any sand. Just dried up, cracked mud. A vast plane of cracked mud; there wasn't even the slightest bit of variation in the landscape. No bushes, oases or hills, nothing. Furthermore, it seemed like the temperature was rising every second.

"What's...with...this heat?" Blossom panted.

Brick looked over his shoulder to see that Blossom was sweating heavily. He felt the heat as well, but since he wasn't human it didn't bother him too much. "Just ignore it. The Chemical Z will protect you from it."

Blossom looked at him. How could he be so unaffected by this heat? "Yeah...Let's keep going," she said.

Fortunately for Blossom, it didn't take long for the sun to begin to set, meaning the temperature started to drop. "That's weird. Maybe the days here are shorter than on earth," Brick said.

"What do you mean?" Blossom asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"We've only walked for a few hours, and the temperature was still rising when we started walking. That means we started before noon, but now the sun's already setting," Brick replied. It appeared Brick was right, as it was completely dark an hour later. The temperature had also dropped drastically and was now way below zero.

"Maybe we should stay here for tonight. Since this is a demon's realm, I doubt it will be safe to travel at night," Brick said.

Blossom nodded and sat down. She shivered. "Well, at least it isn't a thousand degrees anymore," she said. She reached in the pocket of her skirt and retrieved a large bag of candy. "Here, we'll eat this for dinner. It's all I have with me," she said, handing Brick some of the sweets.

Even though the night was pitch black Brick and Blossom had no trouble seeing through it with their Chemical Z enhanced eyes. They ate the sweets in silence and then Blossom shivered again.

"Cold?" Brick asked.

Blossom nodded. "Take my coat, I handle extreme situations well," Brick said with a smile, handing over his coat.

"You wore that coat with a black shirt under it in that heat?! What are you?" Blossom asked amazed.

Brick grinned. "I'm a RowdyRuff Boy." Blossom smiled a little. Then she thought of her situation and said, "You know, I wish we could just be friends. We wouldn't have to fight all the time."

She was almost shocked at her own words. What the hell was she thinking talking like that? Becoming friends with a RowdyRuff Boy…it seemed out of the question, but the way Brick had defended her in her own nightmare stuck with her and she really wished they could just stop being enemies.

"Well…maybe we could be, you know, when this is all over," Brick said, feeling slightly nervous.

He knew it probably wouldn't happen, hell, he wasn't even sure if they'd even survive this trip to dimension x or wherever they were, but it couldn't hurt to hope. Blossom looked at him, amazed by his reply. She'd expected him to sneer at her and tell her that this alliance was temporary.

"I wonder how the others would react…I'm almost certain Kaoru…um, I mean Buttercup…would kill me just for suggesting being friends with you," she said, smiling sadly. Brick ignored the last of Blossom's words and said, "You know, I know your real names, there's no point in keeping it a secret."

Blossom shook her head and said, "I know, but right now she's Buttercup and not Kaoru. We kinda stick to our heroine names when we're transformed." Brick nodded understandingly. He realized how annoying it had to be for Blossom and the others to keep switching names.

"Anyway, the bottom line is that I'd be dead if I said we're friends," Blossom said.

"The same goes for me. I'd probably have to fight Butch first and then Boomer. They'd really see me as a traitor for befriending you; actually I'm surprised they agreed to warn you," Brick said, dropping on his back.

Blossom thought for a moment and wanted to say something, when she noticed Brick was asleep. She smiled lightly and whispered, "Sweet dreams…" Then she too lay on her back and tried to get some rest.


End file.
